


Birds in the Cold

by Icechild



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Bat Fam, Blood, DaddyBats, Gore, Hurt Damian, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Near Death, Protective Bruce, Protective Family, Torture, hurt dick, hurt jason, hurt tim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 20:19:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14576868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icechild/pseuds/Icechild
Summary: Joker wants to hurt the one Robin he had never been able to traumatize, and he wants the others to watch while he does it.





	Birds in the Cold

Batman marched into the cave with complete fury as he moved over to the computer and typed furiously. Dick was kidnapped. By the Joker. He had gone over to Dick's apartment after he didn't show for patrol and he found it a complete mess with the words "Too slow Batsy" carved into the wood floors. There was blood and he already knew it was Dick's. He hardly noticed Damian calling in the rest of them. Jason wasn't exactly on good terms with Bruce but he would be damned if he just left Dick in the hands of that psycho. Tim walked up and put a hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"We're going to find him. It will be okay." They were all in uniform ready to go at a moments notice.

"He killed Jason and he nearly killed you and Damian, I-"

"We know. We know. Dick needs us but we have to stay calm. We're not useful to him if we loose it here."

"You know he's right B, how many times have you given us that lecture."

* * *

Dick opened his eyes to cold water being dumped onto his face. His head hurt and he tried to move just to find he was heavily bolted to the chair he was in. It was dark and he moved his feet slightly finding that he was barefoot. Tile. Straining his eyes he looked around a little in the dim light from the only lightbulb hanging above his head. It was a bathroom. The walls look like they used to be white but were now so covered in dirt and grime that it was basically grey. He looked back in front of him. Oh.

"Back in the land of the living little robin? HAHAH HAHMMM? Took you long enough."

"Joker."

"You see. You were the only one I couldn't get. But I have you now. And I am going to make them all watch."

He saw the red light appear on the faint outline of a camera and knew what was happening. He was broadcasting this to the cave. They were all going to watch.

"Batsy I know you've gathered up the family for this one. I know you're all watching."

"Don't come for me. Stop watching this is a trap!"

He was cut off by a crowbar slashing across his face. Jason tensed up and Tim watched as Joker grabbed clamps and put them on the back of the metal chair. Dick looked up and glared, they each remembered fighting back against the clown and Tim jumped to help Bruce track the location. Blood was running down his face and Jason was getting angrier by the second, so was Damian. No one hurt a bat. Before Dick could say anything in rebellion they saw the shocks shoot from the clamps into the chair and into Dick's body. He arced and pulled against the chair trying to get away but he didn't scream. He refused the satisfaction and his little brother's were watching, he wouldn't put them through it. Joker was not pleased by that turn of events. He pulled a needle with a sickly green looking serum inside and shoved it into Dick's neck and pressed the plunger down. It didn't take long for him to slump in the chair his breathing coming out in whisps as he tried to keep his eyes open. He still glared at him.

"Any thing you wanna say birdy?"

"Go to hell Joker."

"That's not nice."

He punctuated his sentence by slamming the crowbar down into Dick's shoulder and over and over and over snapping his ribs and bruising him. Dick was trying his best not to shout out in pain. Joker knew what he was doing so he walked behind him, grabbed his hair and forced him to look at the camera as he spat out blood and plunged the sharp end of the crowbar right into his stomach. And he kept stabbing. Blood was pouring from his wounds and when he stepped back to admire his work he electrocuted him again. This time, Dick screamed. It seemed to last for forever but in that time they got a location. An abandoned warehouse by the water front. They were grabbing what they needed to get Dick out of this. Tim and Jason already left the cave to go get their brother before it was too late.

"Ohhh Batsy. I know you were tracking me. Hehehe. I know you think you know where I am. But I know how you think. I knew this was coming. You wont find him there. But I know the little birds to. I'll have them. They'll get front row seats to see the big one break."

"Shut up Joker...You....You wont get away with this..."

He cackled. "The serum is kicking in now isn't it. You can feel it ripping away at your energy. You can't fight me forever. They can't save you."

* * *

Bruce was panicking. Damian was just watching to try to figure out where they were and Bruce was desperately calling over to comms to make Jason or Tim answer.

"It's a trap! Do not go! Come back to the cave!"

There was nothing. "Damian locate their comms."

He did it without protest and the saw the dots indicating Red Hood and Red Robin make it to the warehouse before flickering out.

"Dammit!" Bruce punched the wall and for once Damian was silent and just stood still.

"Father. Are they going to die?"

"No. Not on my watch they wont. We're going down there for them. Right now."

Jason and Tim sped up to the warehouse and were running in without a second of hesitation. Joker knew how they worked but they knew the Joker. He called it in so early so that Bruce would spend all the time looking elsewhere and it would be too late. This could very well be where he was keeping Dick and they were not about to just leave him there in the state he was in. They knew Bruce wanted them  to stop but they had no plans to, instead, the boys burst in through the front doors and quickly made their way down the hallways trying to find Dick. They did. They walked together into the filthy bathroom and found Dick strapped into the chair, barefooted, with the clamps still on and blood pouring out of his body. He was way too pale. They were at his side in a second Tim pulling off the clamps while Jason grabbed his face and tried to make him respond.

"Hey Hey Blue Bird don't you dare die on me. Open your eyes."

"J-J-Jay?....." Oh thank god. His voice was tired, broken, and weak but it was there. And that meant he was alive.

"I'm here. I'm right here." He slapped a hand to his comms. "B! We've got Dick but he's really really not doing good." The only response was static. They were being blocked.

"J-Joker.....t-t-trap...." Tim finally finished pulling off his restraints and knelt down to see the extent of the damage, it was really really bad.

"We're getting out of here. Red, somethings jamming the comms."

"If the comms are down so are our trackers. Blue bird, you said trap. What's his plan."

Dick slouched further and Jason moved to support him, shaking him lightly to keep him awake while he groaned in pain. His words were slurring more with every passing second.

"...He's gunna...d-drug you both.....S-s-same thing...he g-gave me...moving ussomewhere...." He was so tired. Maybe now with his brothers here and aware of Joker's plan he could...

"Keep your eyes open. Wing. Dick!"

"Sorry....sorry...reallytired...."

"I know. Tim, we need to get him out of here right now."

"Oh but you can just join him!" The voice of the Joker brought chills to every robin in the room.

"L-l-leave..m-my brothers a-alone you...you sick b-bastard..." Dick was trying to be threatening but he could hardly get his words out. He wasn't going to make it at this rate.

Jason was starting to freak out. Dick had tried so hard to be the perfect big brother and not break under the Joker, he was barely alive and still being strong for them. They don't deserve someone like Dick. 'Bruce, where the hell are you when we need you.'

"The big bat probably saw you weren't answering and is coming here. That means we have our time clock don't we."

"Yeah," Oh thank god Tim was answering this for him, he wasn't sure he could. "That means you get to leave Joker. Leave or we make you leave. You've done enough."

"Oh but I haven't, not yet. You'll see, but I'm a good man so I'll let you say your goodbyes in case the first boy blunder doesn't survive the trip.

With that he turned and left the room and Jason was completely torn between ripping the Joker's head from his body with the damned crowbar he seemed to love so much or staying with Dick. Dick. He won that fight with little hesitation. Tim was cupping Dick's face with his hands and talking to Jason. He needs to get his act together.

"Jay, I can't carry him. If I go out and contact B can you lift him out of here?"

"Yeah."

When he knelt back to look at Dick he was smiling at him.

"You're w-working with them..."

"Yeah, good of you to notice. I'm not leaving you like this."

"Y-you s-s-should..."

"What do you mean."

"A-after t-the camera....c-cut out...h-he talked with me..." He leaned forward towards Jason so that he was supporting a lot of his weight as Dick tried to shift to a place where Jason could pick him up out of the chair, easier said than done.  "I-I got y-y-you killed....A-a-all of you...m-my fault..."

"What the hell are you talking about Goldie?"

"I-If...I should've died...w-when he shot me....th-then he wouldn't have...taken it....out...on....."

"Dick. Dick hey. Hey!"

With little warning his older brother fell out of the chair completely limp and pulse going haywire underneath his fingertips. His breathing was quick and ragged like a scared rabbit and that's when Jason started feeling lightheaded.

"Red!" He tried to yell out for Tim but the world was going dark and he saw Joker step into the room with a gas mask on his face. Damn. He could hear the Joker talking but he couldn't make it out. He saw the puddle of blood underneath Dick's body. 'No....no not him. Not him. Bruce you bastard where are you! Don't leave us again.....don't let us die again...'

That was all he could think before the world dipped into blackness, the sounds of Joker's laughter permeating through like a snake coiling around its prey.

* * *

Jason woke up to the sounds of screaming. He knew he was standing upright with all his weight being put on his wrists, he was chained to the wall, that's not a good sign. How'd he get here? Who was screaming? Then he hears the laughter and everything comes rushing back to him. 

"NO!"

He sees Tim chained on the other side of the tiled room, different and smaller than the one before, but most likely in the same building, that made no sense. But hey he wasn't complaining, Bruce could find them easier this way right? He'd be here soon right? They'd make it out alive? He'd save them? He could see blood running down the side of Tim's head and he felt nauseous and dizzy. They weren't in great shape but it wasn't him and it wasn't Tim that had him scared. It was Dick. Chained to the wall with a collar around his neck like some kind of animal. His wrists and ankles in cuffs and chained to the wall as well keeping him in their reach. Joker was standing over top of his thrashing form with a blowtorch over all of the stab wounds he'd inflicted.

"Now now can't have you dying before you break. Where's the fun in that?"

Dick screamed again as the flame sealed up the last wound and Jason felt sick to his stomach to watch this all happening. Where the hell was Bruce, it didn't take that long to get here. Joker finally stood up and walked out of the room to get more 'toys' letting Jason see the full extent of his now shirtless brother. He looked like he fought 30 angry space volcanoes and lost. He could see Dick's ribs through his too pale, sweat soaked, skin. Then it hit him. The reason that Dick had even come back to Gotham in the first place. Thing's had gone to shit in Bludhaven and Dick was never getting a break. He was solidly working as a police officer and as Nightwing and he was rarely at home. He hadn't been taking care of himself and that was clear to the rest of the world finally when Dick came into the precinct, grabbed his next case file and while standing up to chase his lead he passed out. They sent him home for a mandatory break and had called his emergency contact. Bruce. Which had made B bring him back to Gotham but Dick, being the stubborn ass he is, decided he wanted to stay in his Gotham apartment instead of the manor. Look where that got him. He has been stabbed, beaten, drugged, burned, electrocuted, and god knows what else the Joker did to him when that camera wasn't on. Dick had already proven that Joker was wheedling away at him. Tim was looking for a way out and then Jason noticed it. A small red light on the hem of Tim's left sleeve. Tracker. He had a tracker in his costume, not just his belt. Timmy you glorious genius you.

"Dick? Talk to us."

"hm-m-mn..." It was he could seem to muster as his face screwed up in pain and his chest heaved as he tried to get air into his body. He turned his face away from them but both of them knew there were tears leaking from his mask. Dick was starting to loose it. Their big brother was finally starting to crack and give into the pain. They couldn't let him drown to Joker. Not like they had.

"Dick." Jason took over seeing the fear striking Tim as he no doubt remembered being where Dick was when Joker had him.

"Dick look at us. We're okay. It's okay. B's on his way to get us."

"J-J-Joker h-has us-" He broke off into a coughing fit making him roll onto his stomach to weakly hold himself on his arms as he coughed out blood before it ended up with him just puking his guts up onto the floor. When he finished they watched him shake and fall to the floor next to it rolling out of the way and they noticed how out of it he was. Jason pulled at his restraints as hard as he could.

"Dick you gotta stay with me okay? Stay with us. Stay with your brothers Dick."

"B....."

"He's coming. He has to."

"H-he's h-here..."

"What?" Tim perked up at that too.

"What do you mean he's here? Where is he then?"

Dick's eyes started to flutter and his face twisted up again as he tried to push himself to sit up against the wall.

"Big bird don't strain yourself. You'll make it worse."

"H-H-e needs h-help..."

"You need help. Dick. Lay down. You can't move."

"I-I can..."

And then the door burst open again and for a brief moment Jason had hope that it would be batman and they'd be saved and he'd never have been happier to see the cape and cowl. But he was wrong. No. Of course it wasn't Bruce. That would require him to be there for his boys. Instead of leaving them in the hands of maniacs like he had a tendency to do. Hell, world's greatest detective, and he didn't even know his oldest son was starving himself into exhaustion and reckless behaviors that seriously would have killed him in Bludhaven. Oh no. The person striding through the room over to Dick was once again, The Clown Prince of Crime. But he was unchaining Dick and dragging him over to a bathtub. Dick was struggling but the  moment he was about to break free Joker realized.

"If you resist then I'll beat your baby robins right in front of you before I move on to you."

"W-W-Where's B-Bat-"

"Batsy? Oh! He's fighting with all of the thugs I've got lined up upstairs. The other little birdie isn't here though. Guess the big ol' bat benched him from coming. He's more important than any of you. Especially you, but that's alright." Joker ran a hand through Dick's hair and traced it under his jaw line and down his chest before roughly rubbing over one of the stabs turned burns. Jason wanted to puke, cry, and beat the ever loving hell out of Joker all at once. Tim looked like he was about to have a panic attack and that may very well be true. He was having his own flashbacks to being held by the Joker. And Tim was the one who had the whole dad thing with him so who even knows what's going on in Tim's head. "The first Boy Blunder. You were all so good until I claimed you. Then your daddy tossed you out like trash. I would never do that to you though. You're my play toy now."

"Leave him alone Joker!" Tim was doing well with all of his training and glowering down at the Joker.

He dropped Dick harshly against the floor and walked right up to Tim, grabbing his chin and making him look at him. "My little Jay is being so disrespectful to me. How rude. Maybe after I finish playing with the original I'll retrain you to be the good boy I used to love."

Now it was Jason's turn. "You stay the hell away from both of them Joker or so help me I'll-"

"What? Kill me? Haven't all of you tried to do that already?" He punctuated his sentence with his trade mark cackle and Jason was livid. Screw this all. He was ready to murder him just after what Joker had done to him alone, then Tim. Then he tried to capture Damian and now he was trying to shatter Dick and good lord it was working. He was going to break the one light the bat family had always relied on. Jason was going to fucking kill him.

"I will rip you limb from fucking limb, Joker. Watch. Me. I will pull you apart bit by bit until your body is nothing but hamster shreddings!"

"Oh now there's that fire-y spirit I remember! I'll go get my crowbar and we can all have a big family reunion if the bat ever lives to come down here." He laughed again and then Dick, of freaking course being the heroic big brother he is, Dick forced himself up off the ground and stumbled to Joker and grabbed his shoulder.

"B-back...o-o-off..."

And the next seconds had Jason and Tim both screaming out for their brother. Joker whirled around and stabbed a tazer to Dick's chest and pulled, sparks launching into him as his body shook and he dropped like a rag doll into Joker's arms. It made them feel sick to their stomachs when Joker then started rocking him back and forth and dragging fingers through Dick's hair. He started to spin Dick around leading his stumbling body over to a large bathtub and dumping him in it. The tub was filled to the brim with ice. Tim and Jason both struggling against everything they had in them to get out and protect Dick. They were scared. Dick was writhing in the tub to get away from the cold and Joker just kept laughing and laughing and then he leaned down and whispered to Dick. All they saw was their big brother's eyes go wide and fearful before shoving Joker away as harsh as he could.

"Liar!"

"Ohhhh lambchop I'm not lying."

"Y-You h-have to be!"

"I'm not. Your big Daddy-o is dead. He wont save you. No one can save you. You're dead right here in front of your little birds."

"N-n-n-o..."

He was hyperventilating. Panicking. Dick was panicking and freezing and hurt. And Joker is saying-lies. Joker is saying lies. Bruce will come get them. He has to. There's no way he doesn't but Dick's just so cold. His chest feels too tight and he can see the ice turning red from blood through his darkening vision. He could hear yelling and he knew it was his brother's but everything felt too close. Too small. He was getting dizzy, it was too hard to focus. Maybe, maybe he could just let go, relax, let Bruce handle it, he could just go to sleep. When did it get so hard to breathe? Maybe, he could just stop that too.

* * *

Jason wanted to scream. He did. Tim wanted to run and hug his brother. They wanted to escape. They were both screaming out Dick's name, he was so still, his eyes half lidded and his lips were turning blue. They weren't going to make it out. Bruce was gone. They were so screwed. And then. Then they weren't. The door burst open and In came a raging batman followed closely by robin with a drawn out sword. Bruce went straight in for Joker and grabbed him and threw him away from Dick while Damian bolted and sliced down the chains holding Jason and Tim up. Jason didn't waste a second he ran right to Joker and attacked, Tim was with them to in order to make sure this psycho stayed away from Dick forever. Damian was the one who ran to Dick, Nightwing, his big brother, his protector, his friend, partner, mentor, his Batman. 

Instantly Damian's fingers went to his neck to look for a pulse and he found it, quiet, low, and weak, but it was there.

"Grayson, Grayson. Can you hear me? Dick."

He didn't respond. And that only managed to scare the youngest robin more. Dick was always talking, even when he would be insanely hurt as Batman he would always talk to him. Just to keep him calm. That was how their dynamic worked, Dick would never scare his brothers. Not if he could help it. Obviously right now he couldn't help it. Damian kept his hand on Dick's pulse and before long Tim and Jason were over with him trying to help him assess their brother. Then Bruce came over. They all let him cup Dick's face in his hand and shake his shoulders lightly.

"Dick, Dick do you hear me son? Come on Dickie...talk to us...come on Chum you can do it."

Dick's eyes were fluttering and flicking under his lids like he wanted to wake up but he didn't have any strength left to do it. It was something, and that was more than they had before.

"Dickie please...Open your eyes...stay with us."

"......b.....'m i....'m i dead?....."

"No. No you aren't. We need to get you out of this tub and back to the cave okay? Can you open your eyes for me Chum?"

".......h-hurts..." His words were slurred bad and his breathing was quick and shallow.

"I know. I know. But you've got to bare through it alright? Then you can go back to the manor and have as many of Alfred's cookies as you want."

"..T-that s-soundsnice....."

"Just open your eyes for me."

It took a little but Dick dragged his eyes open, tired, broken, dull, but they were his eyes.

"That's it. Keep them open."

"J-jay?... Tim..."

"We're right here." Jason reached and grabbed Dick's hand out from the ice, god he was so cold.

"We're fine Dick. You saved us." Tim looked at Bruce. "We have to get him out of here."

"Grayson." Damian's voice was short and clipped with fear, anyone who wasn't a bat would have thought he was mad with his sibling, they could all tell he was terrified he'd loose him again.

"L-little D-D...W-when'd you g-get here?....."

"Long enough to see you need immediate assistance. Father. Sooner is better than later in getting him out. Gordon and his men are here. Thompkins is waiting outside with Pennyworth." At the shock running through everyone else in the room he continued. "He's in disguise. I'm not a fool Todd, that is a mistake only Drake is capable of making."

"Damian." He looked back at his Father and all of them knew that they couldn't afford to act like this, not with Dick the way he is.

"Itsnice.....t-that y-youreall......t-talking...." Dick was mumbling and slurring as his eyes started to slide closed again only to be shaken away by Bruce.

"Keep talking to us Chum. We're getting you out of here."

Eventually they were able to work together and pull Dick out of the tub before Bruce carried him out of the basement and out the backdoor of the building. Jason, Tim, and Damian were following close and they knew their brother wouldn't be alright for awhile. Bruce stayed back until Gordon got into the building and explained that the bats were officially off duty for the night. Leslie had Dick laid out on a stretcher working over him with Alfred while his brothers stood guard over and helped whenever and wherever they could. The faster Dick healed up the better. The batfamily could not loose it's light. The only thing that stopped them all from spiraling further than ever before. It was because they had a light in their hearts, and at this point Jason would call it flat out and simple. Dick was their heart. They can't loose him. And no matter how much he hates Bruce he will be there for his brother's. They stood side by side. Robin meant family, and all four of them would protect that now. They won't let Dick carry it by himself, for the time being, they'll be the heart for their brother.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't know what this is. I wrote it and it started as "I want some hurt Dickie Bird" but then it turned to "I want brother and father son time." then it went to "I want them all hurt" "What is this" "I need an ending" 
> 
> I'm thinking, now that I've made this beast. I low key want to write a story of just Dick and Dami fluff, gore, and angst, just cause I'm horrible person and that is 100% my cup of tea. Should I do it? Write one where I just hurt them both so much and the brother bonding is immense and the cute is everywhere. Dick and Dami need more love. I'm trash. Let me know if you would be interested in reading something like that in the comments please!


End file.
